


darling you'll be alright (if it's just for one night)

by palateens



Series: Lis' Babyfic Bouquet [3]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arguing, Discussion of Abortion, Future Fic, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-28 21:56:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14458602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/palateens/pseuds/palateens
Summary: They’re wild, young, and free to do whatever they want. Nothing could be better than this.





	darling you'll be alright (if it's just for one night)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [garden of succulents (staranise)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/staranise/gifts).



> context for this AU: Kent's an afab nonbinary peep and never played in the NHL. Lardo was never the manager for SMH. Jeff plays for the Rangers...because someone's gotta make the dough.

October 2018

 

It’s bitter cold outside, the kind of night that she normally wouldn’t be caught in without the promise of a good buzz. The sky over New York is clouded thicker than Larissa’s head. She’s six drinks into the night, but it isn’t enough to get over how obnoxious her boss’ voice was for the last eight hours. She rubs her temple, nursing her beer as she watches her partners dance.

Jeff’s easily got a foot of height on her, which is why they only tend to dance together at salsa clubs when Kent’s in the mood to flirt with other people. _Especially_ when Kent’s in the mood to flirt with other people. It’s not that their jealous, persay. But there’s something really satisfying about watching Kent fume. Seeing the lust in their eyes as they devour both of them with a simple glance.

Normally on nights like that, he’ll hook up with a rando in the bathroom before taking them both home. Those are rare and far apart, but it’s still something that she looks forward to. Some girl nudges her for a dance. She’s six foot something and too pretty for words so Larissa accepts. She grinds lower than she normally would because she can’t read this girl yet. After a song, the girl excuses herself with a smirk.

“Queer or model?” Jeff says into her ear.

“Eh, model,” she says disparagingly. “But she looked like both.”

He winces before straightening up. “So close, but denied.”

Larissa shoves him. “I told you it was my turn to pick.”

“And Kenny said they didn’t feel like going to Henrietta Hudson’s tonight,” he points out.

“We could’ve gone to the Cubbyhole,” Larissa says.

“Yea so you can hopelessly flirt with Jess in front of her monogamous girlfriend,” Kent says. “No fucking way. I’m not getting cockblocked tonight.”

“You can get sex whenever you fucking want,” Larissa argues.

Kent takes her by the hand as a new song starts playing. “So can you, and don’t you forget it.”

“I want meaningless hookups,” she groans as she starts to dance with them.

“It’s called tinder, babe,” they say. “Do it on your own time.”

“When is it ever my time?”

“Jeff’s got a roadie next week,” Kent says. “We could use his name to get us into that bar in midtown you’ve been wanting to try out.”

“I’m right fucking here,” Jeff grumbles.

They hold Larissa closer. “Babe, you know I’m just chirping. You can go after whoever you want.”

She snorts. “I know, it’s just not as fun without you as my wingperson.”

“That is an entirely different hat I wear,” Kent says. “And it’s gonna cost you a rum and coke if you think I’m walking to Henrietta’s from here.”

Larissa rolls her eyes. “It’s not that far—”

“Fuck that, I need to happy drunk in case we run into _her_.”

“She won’t be there,” she says.

“You don’t know that!” Kent insists.

“Ok here,’ Jeff says, intervening. “I’m buying next round then we’ll head over and get Larissa laid.”

“We could just go to Mimi’s thing,” Kent offers.  

“Is there booze?” Jeff and Larissa ask at the same time.

Kent roles their eyes. “Duh.”

“Ok fine,” Larissa says. “Just because Mimi has a good pipe too.”

Kent chuckles softly before kissing her. They order an Uber while Jeff gets their drinks. They chug the drinks with just enough time to meet the driver outside. Kent leans across Jeff’s lap to kiss Larissa.

“See? Isn’t a million times better than Alaska?” Kent says playfully.

Larissa rolls her eyes. “It was just for the summer...but yea it was boring as shit.”

“You’re both ridiculous,” Jeff says.

“You love us,” Kent and Larissa say before kissing him on each side of his face.

They’re not typical to say the least. But they’re in love. That should count for a whole fucking lot.

_/.\\_

 

August 2016

 

Larissa’s three months out of college and living life on a limb. Her BFA is in sustainable design with an emphasis on sculpture. She somehow managed to get an internship (a paid internship of all things) at an urban planning firm in the city. Which ended today. Which means she’s officially unemployed, living with her older cousin in one of the most expensive places on Earth.

Mimi sexiled her with twenty bucks in her hand and instructions to go wild.

“But you know, not _too_ wild, ” Mimi warns.

Larissa goes to the cafe down the street to look for something to do. Somehow, the cafe is one of those places that still has a community board. There’s a flyer for a polyamory event. Since she is both thirsty, queer, and bored, she figures what the hell.

Which is how she lands herself in an apartment party where most people seem to know each other by name and orgy experience. She takes a swig of her whiskey coke.

“You know you think out loud?” someone says next to her on the couch.

Larissa freezes, almost choking on her drink.

A hand pats her gently on the back. “Ok don’t die? Maybe?”

She shoots a glare at the person’s dress shirt, hoping the look reaches them. “What kind of a pep talk is that?”

“The kind that you give to a stranger who probably googled polyamory on the way over here, and read a bunch of articles on polygamy instead?”

Larissa blushes. “Ok fair.”

She turns to the person next to her who has curly blonde hair sticking out every which way. Their eye shadow looks a thousand times better than hers because of course it does. It’s New York, everyone is miles ahead of her even when all they’re wearing is a grey button down and skinny jeans.

They give Larissa a sympathetic frown. “You’re like brand fucking new to this aren’t you?”

“To what?”

“Everything I’m guessing,” they say with a shrug.

Larissa snorts into her cup. “You’d be right.”

“So what are you doing here of all places? Isn’t there somewhere in Brooklyn desperately missing your profound Instagram review?” they chirp.

“First of all, fuck you,” she says. “Second of all, no one’s getting a fucking review from me any time soon.”

They grin. “Oh yea, how come?”

“I got laid off today,” she admits.

“Ouch,” they say, wincing. “That’s rough.”

Larissa shrugs. “I thought they were gonna hire me full time but—”

“Hold on,” they stop her. “You’re moping over what? A temp job?”

“An internship.”

The blonde laughs. Larissa shoves them gently.

“You’re a fucking baby,” they say.

“Gee thanks,” Larissa mutters. “What gave it away my cheap ass drink or the fact that my statement necklace is from a pawn shop?”

“You look fucking lost. It’s cute.”

Larissa glares. “Is there a reason you’re talking to me?”

“Well I was gonna ask if you wanna get a drink with me and my boyfriend after this thing,” they say. “But now I kinda wanna ask if you’ve ever been to a decent restaurant.”   

“So instead of seducing me by getting me drunk, you want to give me food?”

“It’s not fucking sinister.”

“Whatever you say,” she says with a hum. “But you’re cute, so...sure.”

“Awesome, I’m Kent and I use they/them pronouns,”

“Larissa,” she says. “She/her.”

The smirk on Kent’s lips makes her think that they probably have some cheesy pick up line they’re itching to use.

So she distracts them with a carefully placed hand on their knee. “So where’s this boyfriend of yours?”

Kent chuckles, offering her a hand. She expects them to take her to some corner of the apartment that she can’t see over the metric turn of people in front of them.

“You mind if we uber?” they ask.

Larissa is a lot of things, broke and hungry being two of them. But she is not, in fact, stupid enough to just get in an Uber with someone.

“You mind telling me where the fuck we’re going?”

“Madison Square Garden,” Kent says.

“Ok,” she says skeptically.

Truth be told, she’s fully expecting to come out of this with a few minor scratches and a crazy story to tell her spouse one day. The time she let a cute person take her somewhere that they claimed was Madison Square Garden, it’ll be a riot with her college friends. Part of her thinks she should reevaluate her sense of self-preservation after this.

“Don’t look so stiff. This’ll be cool, trust me,” Kent says.

Larissa pretends to listen to them. It isn’t until they’re a block away from the actual Madison Square Garden.

“What are we doing?”

“Going out to dinner with my boyfriend,” Kent says again.

“Who is…doing...what here?”

“Playing professional hockey?”

Larissa stares at him worriedly. “If you’re fucking with me—”

“Do I look pretty enough to be fucking with you?”

“Yes,” she says humorlessly.

“Aw thanks, but seriously,” they say as they pull two passes out of their jacket pocket. “I was supposed to be here like half an hour ago.”

Larissa frowns. This is just...too good to be remotely true. “Does he know I’m with you?”

“He can probably guess where I was,” Kent says as the Uber stops.

Before she can protest, they open the car door, pulling her out with them. She allows herself to be led because it’s been forever since she’s done anything interesting in the goddamn town.

She’s lived here all of three months, and doesn’t have much to show for it other than a healthy skepticism for strangers (and even that isn’t saying much considering she _just_ met Kent).

Kent takes her through the stadium. When they casually walk into a viewing box, she starts to believe them.

“Want anything?” Kent asks. “Another drink, maybe some food?”

“Sure,” she says as she approaches the ledge to watch.

They chuckle. “Do you wanna know what they have?”

“Surprise me,” she says before adding, “but nothing that pretends it’s Asian when it really isn’t.”

Kent hums behind her. She doesn’t pay them much attention as she gets lost in the action below.

“You a hockey fan?”

She shrugs. “It’s...ok.”

Kent snorts.

She can imagine what they think of her. Some idiot who came to New York for her big break who isn’t like “other girls.” Well fuck that. She knows she’s a flaming garbage fire and she’s proud of it.

“So which one is yours?” she asks.

Kent leans on the railing next to her. “He’s not out right now.”

“Is he a benchwarmer or—”

“You really don’t believe that I’m dating an NHL player,” Kent says.

Larissa shrugs. “I think it’s fucking weird that any professional athlete’s partner would be missing their game to find them a date.”

They laugh. “Yea, ok, fair.”

Larissa chuckles too. The food isn’t the greatest, but it’s decent. The alcohol is more than she’d ever willingly pay to get drunk. But since she isn’t paying and Kent’s sipping casually, she decides to as well.

The thing about Larissa that most people don’t know is her extreme competitive streak. By the end of the second period, she’s screaming at every player, for everything.

“You call that a shot,” she shouts at Kent’s boyfriend.

“He’s going to like the fuck out of you,” Kent says.

Larissa raises her eyebrows. “Does he have a humiliation kink or something?”

Kent bites their lip before crumbling into laughs. “No, but that’s—holy shit I, that’s the best chirp.”

“Chirp,” she repeats. Is she supposed to know what that means?

Kent nods, taking a sip of their drink. “Ok so a few things to know if you’re gonna be with us—”  
“Who said I was?”

Kent smiles easily. “C’mon Larissa. You’re funny, smart...interesting.”

“You know like three things about me,” she says over the blaring of the goal horn.

“Isn’t that enough?”

“No? Do you hear how crazy you sound?”

They shrug.

“You can think about it, take as long as you want,” Kent says. “But I think you’d have fun with us.”

Larissa crosses her arms. This is what she gets for following a weirdo to a hockey game. She isn’t looking for anything serious. She’ll probably run out of money by the end of the year, and be forced to move back to Boston and live with her parents.

Kent is cute, and has an interesting personality. But they’re clearly in their own fantasy world. The two of them would never work out.

_/.\\_  

October 2018

Jeff and Kent invite Larissa back to their place after a night cap at a local cafe by their place. It isn’t far from Mimi’s and she checks every possible exit before letting them usher her into their two bedroom apartment. They let Larissa stay for the night, and she never leaves.

Because Kenny has the softest smile, and Jeff’s a decent sugar daddy (although he can’t stand to be called that). She loves Jeff because he’s pragmatic yet warm. He has a game plan for everything and back up plan in case those fail. Jeff doesn’t manhandle her, but knows how to kiss every inch of her just right if she asks.

She doesn’t think about leaving because Kent’s a great cook. They make just about anything and do it because they like it, because it calms them (and sometimes, it’s to bribe other people into doing chores Kent would rather not deal with).

Jeff is the sort of guy people dream about settling down with. Kenny’s the kind of person people wish they could spend their twenties fucking in every room of every building in New York. Kenny’s quick fucks underneath a blanket on the subway, but also slow kisses by the window sill on a rainy day. They’re dates stealing pennies from a fountain and walking into a tattoo parlor with a half formed sketch and some semblance of a color palette.

They throw away plans whenever possible, unless it’s for something Jeff or Larissa care about a whole lot. Jeff and Kent let her stay because they have a good night, and it’s late. They let her stay because after a few dates, they’re as smitten with her as she is with them.

Jeff and Kenny treat her like a queen. She’s there when they’re a little too raw with each other to help balance them out. She’s there to remind Kent that they’re old enough to make their own responsible decisions, and to remind Jeff that he’s still young enough to make stupid decisions in the name of fun and excitement. Larissa’s there during the off season when cabin fever gets to be too much to say “why don’t we go see your parents? Or mine?” or even “why don’t we going fucking Anderstam and get high off our asses?”

Larissa there to be rough when they need that in bed, and to be quiet when all they’ve done is been around people all day. Jeff and Kenny get her in touch with a few people who end up hiring her for some temporary contracts at a few design firms. She starts taking photography gigs when Kenny notices her aptitude for the medium and starts recommending her to their colleagues. After a year or two of bouncing around contracts, she finally has a steady rhythm to it. She likes her job. She loves her city, and she adores her partners.

Jeff’s on the road a lot for hockey, and sometimes Kenny’s out of town for modeling gigs. She’s there when one of them comes home and needs love. She’s also there when neither of them are so someone can feed the goddamn cat. But sometimes, like this past summer, she’s the one who gets to go on an adventure by herself.

She lies in bed at eleven am on a rare morning off for the three of them. The sky is still bitter and overcast from the night before. It’s likely to rain, but being October it’s just as likely to freeze over into a million pieces of frozen tears.

Larissa hums, counting the disgusting pieces of popcorn texture on the ceiling. The cat mewls angrily somewhere around the kitchen, probably complaining that her bowl is empty and it’s late. Larissa groans, rolling over to face the window. She burrows her head in Jeff’s neck. He snores a little louder as he unconsciously rolls toward her, wrapping an arm around her and cuddling her close like a fucking teddy bear.

Behind her, Kenny murmurs in their sleep, scooting closer to them both. Larissa loves this, being in the middle of a cuddle sandwich with her partners. They’re wild, young, and free to do whatever they want. Even if that means sleeping in.

Larissa sighs happily. She’s twenty five and has her entire life ahead of her. They have their entire lives in front of them. There’s nothing slowing them down or tying them up around here. It’s just the three of them in their own little world.

She grins as she feels herself falling back to sleep. Nothing could be better than this.

_/.\\_

“I’m pregnant,” Kent says one afternoon in December.

Larissa stops a painting she’s working on in mid-stroke, nearly ruining some of the shading she’s been perfecting over the last half an hour.

“Uh, could you run that by me again?” she says.

“I’m. Pregnant,” Kent repeats slowly with a humorous smirk on their face. “Knocked up. With child. In the family way.”

Larissa puts down her brush, swiveling her chair around to face them. Kent’s holding a pregnancy test in their hands. Their grip is tight and a little shaky. If Larissa hadn’t been with them for a while, she might’ve missed the way they shift their weight from their left leg to their right. She knows Kenny only does that when they feel the need to run. So she takes a deep breath. She can do a little bit of damage control. If they need someone to be firm, she can do that for them right now.

“Ok so that’s not great, but we have options—”

“Wait, what?” Kent says, hands falling to their sides. “What do you mean ‘options’?”

“Well I don’t know what passes as sex ed around here, but I’m sure you know what I mean by options. Adoption...abortion...you know...the usual?”

Kent shakes their hand, running a hand through their hair. “Jesus fucking—Larissa I don’t want options. I’m keeping it.”

Larissa snaps her mouth shut to avoid having her mouth hang half open. “You’re dysphoric as shit half the time. You hate looking too feminine.”

“But I love kids,” they argue. “I’ve always wanted a kid. And I love Jeff and I love you. I just—”

Larissa feels time slow to a grinding halt as Kenny’s voice drops off. She imagines the island they went to last summer when she had a few free days from her job. She thinks about all the nights they’ve spent at bars, and after hour bars, and twenty four hour diners. She thinks about making out with a drag king, and taking the train to Newark just to boo Devils fans because fuck Devils fans.      

She sees every late night, every early morning, and every shitty, fantastic adventure they’ve ever taken disappear right before her eyes. She sees Jeff asking her to leave in a few months. Because Jeff’s the rational one, it’s clearly Jeff’s kid, and no kid should have three parents. Larissa crosses her arms tightly, digging her fingers into her skin with a painful level of force.

“—thought you’d be happy for us,” Kenny says finally.

Larissa can’t stand to look at their face. She can only imagine how irritated they look. She shakes her head, digging her fingers hard enough to fuck up her skin.

“You thought wrong,” she says quietly. “I can’t…”

“Can’t what?” Kenny whispers, almost desperately.

“I can’t...deal right now. I’m sorry,” she says as she storms out of the second bedroom turned studio.

They’ll probably be wanting that back too.

She grabs her coat, keys and phone as she rushes out of the apartment. She ignores Kent’s shouting behind her until it’s no longer audible. She practically runs down ten flights of stairs out onto the street.

It’s still light out, but not for long. Larissa looks left and then right, ultimately deciding to head right toward some shops where she can bury her face in shit and forget about life for a while. If she were smart, she would probably find a bar to drown her sorrows. Unfortunately, she isn’t.

She’s the kind of idiot who gets involved with a couple who are absolutely in love with each other and thinks she can make it last.  

She heads to the nearest place that looks remotely warm. It’s the cafe the where she first found that flyer that lead her to Kent. She orders a strong cup of coffee and sits in a back corner. She stares at the community board for a while and wonders what else she has to lose.

_/.\\_

Larissa eventually gets up from her chair in the back of the cafe, heads outside and starts wandering the streets for a while. The sun starts to set. It’s only five but it’s a few days before the solstice so of course it’s near pitch black at this point. Something in the window of a shop she passes catches her eye.

She shuffles inside the store without much thought because it’s cold and she took a light jacket when she should’ve grabbed her fucking peacoat and a pair of gloves on her way out. Larissa starts walking around the store because she doesn’t want to look like a loiterer or some stupid tourist who doesn’t know how to dress for the whether. It takes her mind a full minute to take in the florescent lights, light tan hardwood floors, and pastel accents strewn across crips mahogany cribs.

It’s a fucking baby store. Perfect, just what she needed. Another reminder of the impending demise of her world. She glares at a blue blanket angrily for a while until she hears loud heels clacking toward her.

“Can I help you miss?” a salesperson, with too much perfume on and a smudge of ruby red lipstick on her fake white teeth, asks.

Normally, Larissa would put on a song and dance about how fucking loaded she is and leave with a decent commission for the sales person if they don’t treat her like shit. But she doesn’t have the energy to deal with people today, much less know what she wants. Well...other than for things not to change. Is that too much to ask? Then again, Kenny definitely wasn’t planning for this to happen. They were probably caught off guard by all of this too. And she just sort of...walked out? Without evening asking if they were ok? What the fuck.

“You have anything for an expecting parent who could use something nice?” Larissa asks.

The salesperson raises her eyebrows, assessing Larissa closely. “Oh, is it—”

“It’s not for me,” she interrupts. “It’s for someone who I care a lot about. Can we leave it at that?”

The salesperson nods. “How far along are they?”

Larissa shrugs. She didn’t actually stick around to find out. “A month or two, not really far along.”

The salesperson does their job pretty well and Larissa walks out of the store with a body pillow, a gender neutral onesie, and some cocoa butter thing that’s supposed to help with stretch marks.    

Her phone’s GPA tells her that despite hours of wandering around aimlessly, she’s twenty minutes away from their place. She takes a deep breath. Maybe she didn’t handle that well, or really handled it at all.

She grips the oversized bag in her hand tightly. She imagines her studio burning to a crisp with a baby in a crib in the corner. Larissa swallows thickly, wondering what would she really save. Wondering what Kent must think of her for walking out like a fucking bitch.

 

_/.\\_

 

There’s a park on the way home. It’s not much. Actually, it should barely be considered a park. It’s more like a batch of grass with a fence around it. Larissa slows down as she passes it, letting her eyes linger. She thinks about a toddler with Kent’s eyes and Jeff’s smile, running around inside the park in early spring when it’s still frigid out but the sun’s starting to gain power again.

She wonders if they’ll be happy. If the kid will know how much their parents love them. How they’d do absolutely anything for them. Because of course they would. There isn’t a problem Jeff can’t solve, and for every problem that doesn’t need an emergency plan there’s a smile and hug from Kenny. Larissa...good for something, probably. She’s good for long conversations that don’t necessarily have a right answer, and for letting people down gently when they fuck up.

Jeff’s the firm but stubborn one, Kenny’s the flexible but inconsistent one, and Larissa’s the pragmatic but distant one. She huffs, maybe she should work on that. Not shutting down when things get difficult or messy.

All her life she’s been a fixer. She fixed the advertisements for her parents’ business until they were profitable. She kept her friend group together in high school, and was like a parent to some of them when their parents would do fucking shit for them. In college she was the one breaking into people’s dorm rooms to leave them food when they were sick or too busy studying to take care of themselves.

She’s the one perpetually carrying protein bars in her purse with tissues and a shot of vodka stashed away just in case. She’s the one who made sure Kenny and Jeff talk through their fucking problems instead of fuming quietly like a bunch of idiots. She fixes people. She fixes art. She fixes whatever the fuck she can get her hands on because who else could do it if not her?

Larissa is a lot of things, but a fixer is the biggest one. She feels her throat tighten, slowly realizing there’s no way to just “fix” this. Kenny wants a baby. There’s nothing to fix about this. It’s a baby. There’s nothing wrong with a baby. That’s the whole fucking point, she thinks as a pair of cars get into a honking match behind her.

Babies are these squishy little balls of perfection...in theory. They can’t be fixed because life hasn’t fucked them up yet. There’s nothing to do with a baby but love it and hope they aren’t ruined too much between birth and adulthood.

A cold chill runs through Larissa spine. Maybe it’s not Jeff who thinks three parents would fuck a kid up...or maybe he’ll just agree with her logic.

Her phone chooses that moment to ring. Speak of the devil, she thinks as she answers her phone.

“Hey,” she says, clearing her throat since her voice sounds shitty and ragged. The last thing she wants to do is have Jeff ask how she’s feeling.

“What the fuck did you do?” he asks curtly.

She winces. “I need you to be more specific.”

Larissa imagines Jeff pinching the bridge of his nose. The same way he does any time she or Kenny is being difficult or avoiding a subject they don’t want to talk about.

“Kenny called me,” he says slowly.

“Uh...what did they say?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t really understand past something about pregnancy and you. Is there something you wanna tell me about?”

Larissa takes a deep breath. “Kenny’s pregnant and I...I don’t think I dealt with it all that great.”

“Fuck,” Jeff says. “How bad?”

“I told them we have options?”

“Larissa—” he sighs. “Are you serious? Promise me you’re not shitting me right now.”

“I promise that’s what I fucking said,” she snaps. “I’m sorry ok? It was a lot and all I was just thinking—”

“Thinking what?” he interupts.

He sounds as crazy as she feels. Not really angry, just alarmed and confused and maybe starving.

“Thinking this is it,” she says honestly. “This is the fucking end of the line. Kids...kids don’t have three parents, and I’m expendable.”

The line is silent for a while. She keeps walking toward their apartment. The street lights as randos bustling past her keep her company.

“I can’t...have this conversation over the phone,” Jeff say slowly. “But this roadie isn’t over for another five days so I’m going to say this now and you better drill this into your head, Larissa. I love you. I love you so fucking much I don’t know what to do with myself some days. You know what’s expendable? Those shitty cartons of almond milk you keep in the fridge or those beanies you find at thrift shops that are definitely covered in other people’s germs.”      

“I wash them before I wear them,” she mutters.

“Not the point,” he says with a hiccup that almost sounds like a chuckle. “You, are my favorite woman in the whole wide world. You are one of the most important people in my life and that will always be true. Kenny feels the exact same way. There isn’t a fucking thing they wouldn’t do for you if they thought it was something you really want or need. Kenny hates no saying to me, but they can’t stand saying no to you. It breaks their heart.”

Larissa feels something slip down her face. She wonders how much it took for Kenny to assert how much they want a baby.

“Somewhere deep down, I think you know that,” Jeff says. “I think you know what they wanted to hear from you.”

She snorts, something itches in the back of her throat. She clutches the bag in her hands tighter.

“Something cheesy about how much I love them and how we’re going to love that baby so fucking much and everything’s going to be ok,” she says.

“Yea,” Jeff says. “Add I’m sorry to the front of that, and there’s your speech.”

Larissa nods. “Ok, I can handle that.”

“Babe?” he says.

“Yea,” she says quietly.

“We’re not going anywhere,” he says. “So don’t try to run away because you think it’s the right thing to do. Got it? We love you because you’re you. That’s enough.”

She tastes salty tears as she laughs in spite of herself. Jeff is stubborn, but he’s smart. When it isn’t his beef, he always knows the right thing to say. It’s one of the things she loves about him.

“I’ll try to remember that,” she says before opening the front door of their apartment building.

She’ll really fucking try, she thinks. There’s honestly nothing she wouldn’t do for her partners. Even if it isn’t easy. Even if there’s no such thing as a simple solution from now until the end of time. Larissa thinks it’ll be worth it, eventually.

_/.\\_

 

The apartment is dark when she gets back. She kicks off her shoes, not caring that they’ll be a tripping hazard later. Her coat gets dropped somewhere around the entrance hall. She trudges to their bedroom, finding a giant lump hiding underneath the covers.

Larissa takes a deep breath, closing her eyes as she steadies herself. It was her turn to freak out earlier, now it’s Kenny’s turn to do...whatever they need to.

She puts the bag down next to the bed, nudging Kenny to scoot over. She slides into bed behind them, hugging them to her chest.

“Hi,” she says quietly.

Kenny sniffles. “Hey.”

She hugs them tighter. “I was an asshole before. I’m sorry.”

“Why’d you...just leave like that? I don’t even...what did I do babe?”

She kisses the back of their neck. “Nothing...you did everything right. Right down to telling me you really want this baby.”

“Fuck, you’re not making any sense,”

“We can talk about this later, ok? I’m just...chicken shit. I thought you know, three adults, one baby. That’s not normal.”

“Since when do we do anything normally?”

She chuckles. “You’re right. That’s not us. I’m sorry.”

They eye her suspiciously. “Just like that? Nothing else? Not gonna lecture me that having a kid is a bad idea?”

“Nope,” she says. “I was an idiot. You want a baby? We’ll have the best fucking baby ever.”

“And that’s...ok?” they ask skeptically. “You’re not gonna pull some disappearing act in seven months because it’s too much?” _Because I’m too much,_ Kent doesn’t say.

Something in Larissa’s chest clenches. Kenny smiles brighter than anyone she knows. They hug softer, and never push too hard unless it’s something they really believe in. So she tends to forget that they’re worse than she is in the abandonment issues department. She kisses them deeply, pulling them closer. She feels their stomach touch hers.

She imagines a baby with Kent’s hair and Jeff’s eyes cooing up at her like she’s something to give a damn about. The thing about babies, she recalls, is that they don’t know the difference between normal and fucked up. They just love unconditionally.

Larissa kisses Kenny, running a hand up and down their back so the tension in their shoulders melt. She cups their head gently between her hands, staring at their perfect green eyes in the dim light flooding in from the hallway.

“I love you,” she tells them softly. “We’re gonna be alright, ok? I love you, Jeff loves you, and we’re gonna love the fuck out of this baby. Got it?”

Kenny blinks a few times, and Larissa feels something wet on her fingers. She wipes away their tears with her thumbs and kisses them again.

“We’ll figure it out,” she says calmly, unsure of who she’s trying to convince.

Kenny kisses her back. “Fuck yea we will. We’ll be the best parents ever. I promise.”

Because Kenny always knows the right thing to say when someone is sad. They wraps theirself around Larissa, nuzzling against her.

“Thanks,” Kenny says. “You always know what to say when I need you.”

Larissa hears someone laugh, realizing it’s her. They kiss in the darkness until they’re tired and she has a reason to pull out Kenny’s new pillow while they call Jeff.  

They’re not typical to say the least. But they’re in love. That should count for a whole fucking lot.

**Author's Note:**

> fic title - lyrics from Super Rat by Honeyblood 
> 
> I really wanted to write a fic about Lardo getting to be "selfish" and living wildly in New York and something that comes along that's big enough to throw a wrench into that. Not because she shouldn't be living a wild and fun life, but because comes with a lot of plans that tend to twist and change. Sometimes what people want isn't sustainable, and sometimes what they want changes as they do. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. If you liked it and want me to write more in this universe, leave me a comment and let me know.


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